Mass Effect 3 was the end of Commander Shepard’s story, but BioWare doesn’t want to end the franchise, the next Mass Effect is already in development at BioWare Montreal.
BioWare Montreal developed Mass Effect 3 multiplayer and contributions to the single-player campaign, Mass Effect 4 will be powered by Frostbite 2 engine, enhanced by systems built for Dragon Age III.
In a blog post on BioWare blog, BioWare Montreal studio director Yanick Roy confirmed that the next installment is coming from his studio, with support from Edmonton.
“Because BioWare has always believed that the company culture is one of the key ingredients of the games we make, we took two important steps with the team. First, we deliberately seeded the new studio with many transfers from Edmonton. Second, we chose to grow the team relatively slowly, allowing new people to join the team and integrate into its culture in due time,” explained Roy.
“Even with that approach, though, the Montreal studio has made significant contributions to the Mass Effect franchise. We started by building about half the cinematics for ME2, then most of its N7 missions, and finally we played an important role in the development of much of its post-release content. Then on ME3, we took charge of the multiplayer portion as well as making significant contributions to the single-player campaign. Most recently, we built a large piece of DLC that will be released on November 27 and that you know under the name of Omega. With each new portion of work, we took on deeper and broader responsibilities, but we always worked in conjunction with Casey, the Mass Effect leads, and the developers in Edmonton.
“That evolution now takes its next step, with the news that the next Mass Effect game is already in development, driven by the team here in Montreal. This is the goal we have been working toward for years now, and every member of our team is proud, excited, and humbled to take on the responsibility for the next game.”
Roy says: “To ensure a proper and effective transition, we’ll continue to be supported by the Edmonton studio through the game’s development, working with and learning from them on some critical initiatives. On top of that, Casey remains the Executive Producer, but he will have a Project Director under him, working in Montreal, leading our development team and making day-to-day decisions for the game. We all care very much about Mass Effect and make our decisions based on what’s best for the game.
“There is really not much I can tell you about the game right now, except that it will be built with the amazing technology of Frostbite as its foundation, enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building.”
Roy says the team will be respectful of franchise’s heritage, but with the original trilogy now complete it’s possible to explore “new directions, both on the gameplay and story fronts” whilst maintaining the “pillars the franchise is known for”.
Roy concluded: “We’re all looking forward to telling you more about this next Mass Effect game, but it’s probably going to be quite a while before you hear from us again. We know you have high expectations for the franchise and we want to make sure whatever we show you lives up to those expectations.”
You can like our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us to your circle on Google+ to keep yourself updated on all the latest news around the web.
